The European Union is considering a step-by-step suspension of multiple economic sanctions targeting Syria as it seeks to support the country’s transition, while retaining some leverage, according to two internal documents seen by Reuters.

European foreign ministers will gather to discuss easing sanctions on Syria following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad by insurgents. The EU's decision will depend on the new government's inclusivity and stance on radicalization.

The new administration's approach to governing must include "different groups" and women, and "no radicalization", the European Union's foreign-policy chief said.

EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib on Friday became the first European Union official to visit Syria since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

Top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe were arriving in the Saudi capital on Sunday to discuss Syria, as world powers push for stability after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy,

EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib announced a 235 million euro aid package for Syria and neighbouring countries on Friday during a visit to Damascus.

EU countries have been quick to pause asylum applications, but there is no guarantee that Syrians can safely return home

Slovakia has seen growing political tensions in recent months, with divisions deepening between the government and opposition. The country’s direction on foreign policy, particularly its stance toward Russia and the European Union,

For more than a decade, Mr. al-Assad remained in power, employing vicious means to do so while enjoying an obscene amount of impunity. In recent years he was even beginning to be welcomed back to an international community eager to move on and to return Syrian refugees, despite clear evidence that Syria was not safe.

The French justice system has established the former Syrian president's complicity in a bombing raid on the city of Deraa in 2017. Bashar al-Assad is the target of a new arrest warrant (the second) issued by France for complicity in war crimes.

The Red Cross said on Saturday it had completed the second phase of release operations as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, transferring four Israeli hostages from the enclave and facilitating the release of detainees from Israeli centres.